Expertise on Eastern Europe at UZH

The following is an overview of the history of Eastern Europe at the University of Zurich, research and teaching on Eastern Europe in the University’s various disciplines, and the interdisciplinary study program supported by the Faculty of History and the Department of Slavonic Studies.

Eastern European studies have a long tradition at the University of Zurich. Soon after World War II, lecturers specializing in Eastern Europe taught various subjects relating to Eastern European history. In 1971, a Chair of Eastern European History was established as a separate division within the Department of History, ten years after a Chair of Slavonic Linguistics and a Department of Slavonic Studies had been founded.

History of the Chair of Eastern European History at the University of Zurich

History of the Department of Slavonic Studies at the University of Zurich

In addition to the Chair of Eastern European History (Prof. Dr. Nada Boškovska), the Division for Eastern European History currently includes a SNSF professorship (Prof. Dr. Ekaterina Emeliantseva Koller) and an adjunct professorship in Eastern European History (Prof. Dr. Jeronim Perović). This makes the Division for Eastern European History one of the most important research institutes for the history of Eastern Europe within the German-speaking world.

The same is true for the Department of Slavonic Studies, the largest of its kind in Switzerland, with professorships in Slavonic Linguistics (Prof. Barbara Sonnenhauser), Slavonic Literature (Prof. Dr. Sylvia Sasse), and the Adjunct Professorship for Interart Eastern Europe (Prof. Dr. Dorota Sajewska).

Research and teaching related to Eastern Europe also sporadically takes place in other departments at the University of Zurich. For example, research on post-Socialist transformation processes, especially in the Central Asian states, is one of the focal areas of the Chair of Ethnology (Prof. Dr. Peter Finke) at the Department of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies.

Since 2007, the major in Eastern European Studies, run by the Department of History and the Department of Slavonic Studies, has offered the possibility to combine the subjects of Eastern European History and Slavonic Literature and Linguistics as part of a degree program. Additional courses related to Eastern Europe in other disciplines may also be incorporated. The degree program aims to give students not only an introduction to academic work, but also a deep, comprehensive grounding in the history, politics, languages, literature and culture of Eastern Europe. This foundation should equip students with the skills to analyze current events in the region. The Eastern European Studies degree program qualifies graduates to work in areas such as media, journalism, publishing, translation, cultural institutions and services, the diplomatic service, public administration, social services and NGOs.